Chapter 702: Half-Saint Doppelganger
Qi Hong immediately sat down cross-legged, clasped his hands together at his chest, and a Divine Martial Mark appeared at the center of his brow. As the Divine Martial Mark spun continuously, a white, sacred radiance emanated, enveloping his body as he began to fully expel the Death Evil Qi.
The Death Evil Qi contained within the pill was limited after all. Qi Hong mobilized his Half-Saint light and gradually suppressed the Death Evil Qi within his body.
"A Half-Saint's cultivation is truly this powerful." Zhang Ruochen's expression changed.
The Death Evil Qi in the pill was enough to kill ten Fish-Dragon Ninth Change cultivators in an instant. But Qi Hong was terrifyingly strong, slowly forcing the evil Qi out.
He had to kill Qi Hong before he completely expelled the Death Evil Qi from his body.
"Sword One."
Zhang Ruochen gripped the Golden Snake Sacred Sword, merging his body with the blade into a golden light shuttle, and thrust the sword with full force at Qi Hong.
"Lin Yue, you underestimate a Half-Saint far too much. With your meager cultivation, even a single strand of a Half-Saint's hair could slay you." Qi Hong's mouth did not move, but he used his Spiritual Power to project a voice that echoed through the surrounding space.
"Yuan Ling, kill that brat."
At that moment, a white sacred sword flew out from the Divine Martial Mark on Qi Hong's brow, rushing to meet Zhang Ruochen.
The white sacred sword, named "Yuan Ling," was Qi Hong's lifebound sword, which had followed him for one hundred and sixty years. Qi Hong had infused a large amount of Saint Qi into the Yuan Ling Sacred Sword. As long as that Saint Qi was not depleted, the sword's artifact spirit could autonomously attack enemies.
"Boom!"
The Yuan Ling Sacred Sword emitted dazzling sword light. With a single slash, it cleaved out a sword Qi dozens of meters long, sending Zhang Ruochen flying backward.
Even just a sacred sword possessed attack power far exceeding that of a Fish-Dragon Ninth Change cultivator, with the strength to kill Zhang Ruochen.
The artifact spirit's voice rang out, "Junior, take another strike from me."
"Swish, swish!"
Over three hundred sword Qis surged from the Yuan Ling Sacred Sword simultaneously, forming a howling storm of sword Qi that flew toward Zhang Ruochen. The chaotic sword Qi left dense sword marks on the ground, as if it intended to level the entire small mountain.
At the center of the sword Qi storm, the Yuan Ling Sacred Sword grew to over thirty meters long and as wide as a door panel, carrying a power that could destroy heaven and earth. It was a terrifying force, comparable to the Azure Heaven Demon Hand of Ouyang Huan.
Zhang Ruochen immediately unleashed the Cosmic Divine Wood Map, which expanded into a massive scroll, attempting to absorb the Yuan Ling Sacred Sword.
The Yuan Ling Sacred Sword, highly intelligent, sensed the suction force from the Cosmic Divine Wood Map and immediately shot into the sky, fleeing far away, refusing to clash head-on with the map.
Then, a cold, deep voice sounded, laughing, "Good boy, you even have a heavy treasure on you. In that case, I'll gladly take it!"
Qi Hong remained seated cross-legged, but a translucent shadow detached from his body, stood up, and took a step forward, condensing into a person identical to Qi Hong. It was like a soul leaving the body.
"A Half-Saint Doppelganger."
Zhang Ruochen's expression changed. Without any hesitation, he immediately spread the dragon wings on his back and fled at top speed.
A Half-Saint's doppelganger possessed part of a Half-Saint's power, which Zhang Ruochen could not defeat in his current state.
Although the Meteor Invisibility Cloak had been taken by Qi Hong, as long as Zhang Ruochen could save his life, he would have a chance to reclaim it later.
"Is this kid from the Divine Dragon Half-Human Clan?"
Seeing the pair of dragon wings spread on Zhang Ruochen's back, Qi Hong's doppelganger showed a puzzled expression. Then, he extended his arm, retrieved the Yuan Ling Sacred Sword, and gave chase at high speed.
Zhang Ruochen glanced back and saw Qi Hong's doppelganger closing in.
They were locked in a chase. Along the way, they clashed four times, and each time, Zhang Ruochen narrowly escaped.
"Zhang Ruochen, this is very bad. We're only facing a doppelganger, and we're already being hunted with no way up to heaven or down to earth. If Qi Hong's true body fully expels the Death Evil Qi and joins the pursuit, won't we have even less chance of survival?" Xiao Hei said.
It had long since crawled out of Zhang Ruochen's sleeve and stood on his shoulder, continuously inscribing formation runes and sending them backward to slow down Qi Hong's doppelganger.
"The timing isn't right yet. When it is, I'll use the power of space to send that doppelganger into the Void Space." Zhang Ruochen gritted his teeth, a cold gleam in his eyes.
There was no other way. With his current cultivation, he could only use the power of time and space to have a chance at killing a Half-Saint's doppelganger. To avoid exposing his identity, he only had one chance to strike, so he had to be extremely cautious.
After fleeing roughly two thousand miles, Zhang Ruochen burst into a very strange region. The ground was covered in black soil, barren of any vegetation. Moreover, whether in the sky or underground, there was no trace of Heaven and Earth Qi at all.
This meant that once inside, a cultivator's true Qi would continuously deplete. And without absorbing Heaven and Earth Qi to replenish their body's consumption, the cultivator would only grow weaker.
Zhang Ruochen had never encountered such a bizarre place before.
The Fallen God Mountain Range contained many ancient ruins and forbidden zones. Some of these areas were extremely dangerous even for Saints to enter.
The region Zhang Ruochen had just entered was likely one such ruin.
Xiao Hei jumped off Zhang Ruochen's shoulder, landed on the ground, and sniffed the air. In the soil, it smelled a bloody odor. "Such an ancient aura. Could this be a Medieval Ruin?"
Zhang Ruochen stopped, not daring to continue forward. He activated his Heavenly Eye and looked into the distance.
A hundred zhang away, a black cloud of Qi rose from the ground. The cloud's shape resembled a group of clawing and snarling vengeful spirits, containing powerful Yin Qi, blocking even the light of his Heavenly Eye.
"I feel a murderous aura lingering here. If we barge in, we might die without a burial place." Zhang Ruochen's expression was extremely grave, sensing great danger.
He was about to retreat, but as he turned around, he saw Qi Hong's doppelganger approaching from behind, hovering several zhang above the ground.
Qi Hong's doppelganger sneered coldly, looking down from above. "Lin Yue, hand over that scroll from earlier, and I might consider sparing your life."
Zhang Ruochen deliberately acted relaxed, smiling. "Oh? Then I suppose I should thank you, senior, for letting me live?"
"Don't refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit."
Qi Hong's gaze darkened. He raised his hand, mobilized a surge of Saint Qi, and swiftly struck downward with a palm.
"Cloud-Opening Palm."
The Cloud-Opening Palm was already a formidable Ghost-level martial technique. When executed by a Half-Saint doppelganger, its power far exceeded that of a Fish-Dragon Realm cultivator.
Zhang Ruochen executed Sword Two, shooting upward, and clashed fiercely with the Cloud-Opening Palm.
The powerful palm force was difficult to break through even with Sword Two. In the end, the massive palm imprint sent Zhang Ruochen flying over a hundred zhang, deep into the Medieval Ruin.
Zhang Ruochen supported himself with one hand on the ground, gripping the sword hilt with the other, blood continuously flowing from his mouth. But his will remained firm.
Secretly, he released his Space Domain, covering a radius of ten miles.
Qi Hong's doppelganger did not want to kill Zhang Ruochen immediately. Instead, he intended to capture him alive and use a Soul Search secret art to extract information from his memories. It was precisely this mindset that gave Zhang Ruochen a chance to survive.
"Junior, do you still want to struggle in vain? Let me tell you the truth: my true body has already completely expelled that evil Qi and is heading this way. Do you think there's any point in continuing to resist?"
Qi Hong's doppelganger landed on the ground, walked up to Zhang Ruochen, and sneered coldly. Like a judge, he raised the Yuan Ling Sacred Sword and thrust it toward Zhang Ruochen's brow Qi Sea.
A strange smile appeared on Zhang Ruochen's face. He pointed a finger forward.
"Swoosh——"
At that moment, the space in front of Zhang Ruochen twisted violently. The Yuan Ling Sacred Sword, clearly thrust at Zhang Ruochen, suddenly reversed one hundred and eighty degrees, stabbing toward Qi Hong's doppelganger instead.
Qi Hong's doppelganger showed a hint of shock, having never seen such a bizarre phenomenon. Without a second thought, he immediately retreated backward.
But Zhang Ruochen had already executed "Space Collapse" first, causing the space behind Qi Hong's doppelganger to shatter, forming a massive Void Void ten zhang in diameter.
"Boom!"
The shattered space, like the eye of a storm, emitted a powerful devouring force, forming a massive energy vortex that swept both Qi Hong's doppelganger and the Yuan Ling Sacred Sword inside.
"This is... the power of space..."
In that final moment, Qi Hong's doppelganger finally realized the truth. His eyes widened as he stared at Zhang Ruochen as if seeing a ghost.
"Chi!"
Moments later, Qi Hong's doppelganger and the Yuan Ling Sacred Sword were both torn to pieces by the shattered space.
The power of space could destroy all matter.
The moment his doppelganger and lifebound sword were destroyed, eight hundred miles away, Qi Hong's true body felt as if struck by a heavy punch. His throat turned sweet, and a trace of Saint blood flowed from the corner of his mouth.
"What happened? How could a mere Lin Yue destroy my doppelganger and shatter my lifebound sword? What on earth happened?"
Under normal circumstances, the true body could perceive everything the doppelganger experienced. Unless the doppelganger was killed in an instant, leaving no time to transmit information back.
The destruction of both the doppelganger and the lifebound sword dealt a massive blow to Qi Hong. Even with miraculous medicines, it would take at least a year to fully recover from such an injury.
Furious, Qi Hong flew forward at an even greater speed.